00:00Talking about the first place Patriots, once again, it's unbelievable.
00:04Isn't it unbelievable at this point?
00:06I'm sitting there watching.
00:07Are you starting to believe?
00:08I'm sitting there watching Monday Night Football, and like, everybody's picking them.
00:11Can they win the East?
00:11Can they stay above Buffalo?
00:13And like, guys like McCordy, yeah, yeah, sure they can.
00:17Pro football talk thinks they can.
00:19And I'm like, I don't know if they can.
00:21I'm not there yet.
00:22I'm just not there yet.
00:23Because of the competition?
00:25No, it's not that.
00:25I think it's too early.
00:26I think it's too early to even say, can you win the East right now?
00:30I don't think you can yet.
00:33I'll tell you about 10, 11 games, and then you start looking at it.
00:35Like, December.
00:36Then you start closing it out.
00:38Okay.
00:39Could they prove?
00:40Let me ask this a different way with the AFC East.
00:42Yeah.
00:42Could they prove that they are the best team in the AFC East by way of head-to-head matchups with the Bills?
00:48Yes.
00:49Okay.
00:49So, if they beat the Bills a second time, yet somehow they fall behind them in the standings,
00:54how are you going to feel going into the playoffs?
00:57Pretty damn good.
00:57You're going to feel good.
00:58I watched those games last night.
00:59I feel pretty good.
01:00The Buffalo win is the most important win they have.
01:03What if they were to do it a second time, regardless of what they do in their other games?
01:06Yeah.
01:07It would give you a lot of confidence.
01:09It would say that, hey, they can match up against really good teams and beat better teams roster-wise.
01:15Because the Patriots, let's, you know what, let's, I want to pause for a moment.
01:19Let's start talking about them as a playoff team from here on out.
01:22Yeah, I think you have to.
01:23When the Pats are in the playoffs, whoo-hoo, that feels good.
01:26When the Pats are in the playoffs, they're not going to have the best roster.
01:32If you took the rosters of all the different teams that are going to be in the mix, you're not going to look at the Patriots roster and say they stack up.
01:39Oh, yeah, from top to bottom, they're loaded.
01:41No, they don't.
01:42They don't.
01:43They're winning on the talent of their quarterback, who right now in this league in 2025 is a top five quarterback in the NFL.
01:50That happened quickly.
01:52And so they're not going to have the best roster.
01:56They're going to have maybe the better quarterback in a lot of those matchups.
01:59And that's what's going to give them a fighting chance.
02:03But if they beat Buffalo a second time in their division, it's going to start this idea that they can beat better teams.
02:11They can have a good game plan.
02:13They can execute well.
02:14They can try and clean up their penalties.
02:15Yeah.
02:16And they can, you know, be a team that pulls off upsets routinely.
02:20No, that's fair.
02:21That's totally fair.
02:22But I think you need to get through Buffalo.
02:24Like, that's the outlier.
02:25Say you lose this week to Cleveland.
02:28Yeah.
02:29And then you win the following week.
02:30Say you win at Tampa.
02:31You saw them last night.
02:32They didn't look great.
02:33I know they're banged up.
02:34We're going to get to that.
02:35And then say you beat Buffalo.
02:37Like, that's it.
02:38It's over.
02:38Then you win the East.
02:40Like, that's it.
02:41I thought it was too early.
02:43No.
02:43I mean, it is too early right now.
02:44But I think you've got to get to Buffalo.
02:45That's when you really start looking at it.
02:49You beat Buffalo.
02:50You're the AFC East champs.
02:51Well, to go back to a conversation we were having yesterday, I think these next three games are going to tell you whether or not they're capable of actually winning the division.
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